Chennai train accident kills seven, Lalu orders probe (Second Lead)

Chennai/Patna, April 29 (IANS) At least seven people were killed and 20 injured when a local passenger train collided with a goods train in a Chennai suburb Wednesday, an official said. In Patna, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad said that an inquiry will be conducted into the collision. A local passenger train collided with a goods train in Chennai’s northern Vyasarpadi suburb Wednesday morning.

“The accident occurred a little before 6 a.m. A passenger train collided with a goods train comprising several oil tanks. The identities of the motormen who operated the two trains are being sought,” a Southern Railway spokesperson told IANS.

He added that the injured were admitted to the General Hospital in this Tamil Nadu capital. The deceased were yet to be identified.

“We will conduct an inquiry into the train accident in Tamil Nadu,” Lalu Prasad told reporters in Patna.

“We heard a loud noise and then saw several railway compartments in flames. The smell emanating from bodies retrieved from the mangled coaches was nauseating,” said M.N. Selvi, who lives near the Vyasarpadi railway station.

All local and long distance trains coming from Arakkonam (over 30 km north of Chennai) towards Chennai Central were stopped enroute, the railway official said, adding that normal services would resume by about 3 p.m.

“I’m going to miss my important meeting for negotiating a letter of credit worth Rs.110 million and tying up supplies,” N.S. Veeraraghavan, an executive stranded at Perambur, told IANS.

The family of S.K. Vimalanathan, who was scheduled to be married Wednesday, was stuck at Pattathiram.

“Forcing my aged parents and relatives to alight on the tracks with luggage is out of question. We will have to delay the entry into the marriage hall beyond 3 p.m., when the next auspicious hour begins,” said S. Krishnamurthy, the groom’s father.